Laxative Souls - "Twist And Decease" Cassette 1982 (256) & "Desinfektionsraum" Cassette 1984 (320) With Scans



"Laxative Souls, also known by the contraction 'LXSS', was one of the very first post-industrial music projects on the Italian scene. Born in the early 1980s in the province of Ascoli Piceno, according to many critics LXSS was chronologically second only to 'MB'. The project was from the mind of Roberto Marinelli and takes it's name from Dante's Inferno's dialog of souls in purgatory, a literal translation of which s not reflected in the English language, thus generating a nonsensical phrase. His music is a mixture of electronic rage, vocal distortions, concrete music, feedback generated by self-assembly of electrical circuits and cut-ups of documentaries, recordings and radio proclamations. Less dehumanizing than Maurizio Bianchi, the compositions of LXSS seem more linked to an emotional interpretation of the social organism, where in the evolution of the songs and albums it seems to elaborate an almost narrative development of the sound material.

The first album under the name LXSS was released after two years of exhausting research and construction of samples, for the 'Multiple Configuration' label of Roberto Marinelli himself, for which 'TAC', 'Tasaday', 'Maze 1066' and 'Luca Miti' also recorded. In 'Twist And Decease' Marinelli traces a series of violent deaths that have crossed the historical, political and social universe, using an almost documentary style. From Umberto The First killed by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci to Aldo Moro killed by the Red Brigades, from the aerospace accident of Vladimir Michajlovič Komarov to the mass exterminations of concentration camps, the narratives sometimes develop following documentary evidence and elaborating compositions around recordings, interviews and voice documents concerning the events themselves, and at other times in an emotional way through a succession of sound images and 'suggestions'. In his narrative evolutions then, Marinelli never seems to give value to the catastrophic spectacularization of crime news ,trying instead to maintain the maximum critical lucidity in the poetic treatment of events.

In 1984 Marinelli published the album entitled 'Desinfektionsraum', a cassette focused on the final solution of the Jewish question and more particularly on the extermination camp of Auschwitz, in which, according to Ambrosini, the fusion between poetic-sound processing of images and documentary narration reaches its compositional apex, also managing to trace a link between those misdeeds and the inability of our society to analyze any event in a non-rhetorical way."

CDR Culture: Three Friendship "Mixtapes" Of Industrial & Neofolk (Mostly) From Justin & Ray...


"A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape or mix tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette tape, CD, or digital playlist. The songs are either ordered sequentially or made into a continuous program by 'beat matching' the songs and creating seamless transitions at their beginnings and endings with fades or abrupt edits. Essayist Geoffrey O'Brien described the mixtape as perhaps the most widely practiced American art form.

Homemade mix tapes became common in the 1980s. Although the compact audio cassette by Philips appeared at the 1963 Berlin Radio Show, the sound quality of cassettes was not good enough to be seriously considered for music recording until further advances in chemical formulations of the tape. Before the introduction of the audio cassette, the creation of a pop music compilation required specialized or cumbersome equipment, such as a reel-to-reel or 8 track recorder, that was often inaccessible to the casual music fan. As cassette tapes and recorders grew in popularity and portability, these technological hurdles were lowered to the point where the only resources required to create a mix were a handful of cassettes and a cassette recorder connected to a source of pre-recorded music, such as a radio or LP player. The 8-track tape cartridge was more popular for music recording during much of the 1960s, as the cassette was originally only mono and intended for vocal recordings only, such as in office dictation machines. But improvements in fidelity finally allowed the cassette to become a major player. The ready availability of the cassette and higher quality home recording decks to serve the casual home user allowed the cassette to become the dominant tape format, to the point that the 8 track tape disappeared shortly after the turn of the 1980s. The growth of the mixtape was also encouraged by improved quality and increased popularity of audio cassette players in car entertainment systems, and by the introduction of the Sony Walkman in 1979.

A distinction should be drawn between a private mixtape, which is usually intended for a specific listener or private social event, and a public mixtape, or 'party tape', usually consisting of a recording of a club performance by a DJ and intended to be sold to multiple individuals. In the 1970s, such DJs as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force, Kool Herc and the Herculoids, and DJ Hollywood would often distribute recordings of their club performances via audio cassette, as well as customized recordings (often prepared at exorbitant prices) for individual tape purchasers. These recordings tended to be of higher technical ability than home-made mixtapes and incorporated techniques such as beat matching and scratching. One 1974 article in Billboard reported: 'Tapes were originally dubbed by jockeys to serve as standbys for times when they did not have turntables on hand. The tapes represent each jockey's concept of programming, placing, and sequencing of records. The music is heard without interruption. One-to three-hour programs bring anywhere from $30 to $75 per tape, mostly reel-to-reel, but increasingly on 8-Track and cassette.'

Throughout the 1980s, mixtapes were a highly visible element of youth culture. However, the increased availability of CD burners and MP3 players and the gradual disappearance of cassette players in cars and households led to a decline in the popularity of the compact audio cassette as a medium for homemade mixes. The high point of traditional mixtape culture was arguably the publication of Nick Hornby's novel 'High Fidelity' in 1995. Since then, mixtapes have largely been replaced by mix CDs and shared MP3 playlists, which are more durable, can hold more songs, and require minutes (rather than hours) to prepare.

While the process of recording a mix onto an audio cassette from LPs or compact discs is technically straightforward, many music fans who create more than one mixtape are eventually compelled to confront some of the practical and aesthetic challenges involved in the format. From a practical standpoint, such issues as avoiding an excessive amount of blank tape at the end of one side (which requires careful planning of the length of each side of the mix) and reducing the audible click between songs (which requires mastery of the pause button on the cassette recorder) have been identified as part of the shared experience of mixtape aficionados. From an aesthetic point of view, many enthusiasts believe that because a tape player, unlike a CD player, lacks the ability to skip from song to song, the mixtape needs to be considered in its entirety. This requires the mixtape creator to consider the transitions between songs, the effects caused by juxtaposing a soft song with a loud song, and the overall 'narrative arc' of the entire tape. Many enthusiasts also devote substantial attention to the packaging of a mix tape intended as a gift, sometimes going so far as to create cover art and customized liner notes.

From an artistic point of view, many creators of mix tapes seem to regard them as a form of emotional self-expression, although whether a mix tape retains the same web of emotional associations when passed from its creator to the recipient is, at best, debatable. Some argue that in selecting, juxtaposing, or even editing originally unrelated tracks of pop music into a new work of art, the author of a mix tape moves from passive listener to archivist, editor, and finally active participant in the process of musical creation. On a very basic level, the creation of a mix tape can be seen as an expression of the individual compiler's taste in music, often put forward for the implicit approval of the tape's recipient."

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"'Cassette culture' refers to the practices associated with amateur production and distribution of home-recorded music via audio cassettes. Several factors led to it's popularity: the development of the format and widespread availability of tape decks allowed participants to produce copies of their music (or other's music via 'tape trading') rather cheaply. Additionally, multi-track equipment that used cassettes and electronic instruments such as drum machines all became more affordable, portable, and of fairly high quality. These factors finally made recording at home and duplication of those recordings a low cost alternative to professional studios and distribution services. 

In the United Kingdom cassette culture was at its peak in what is known as the 'post-punk' period, 1978–1984. UK cassette culture (as in the U.S.) was mainly championed by punk groups, industrial musicians, and marginal artists in general. Individuals would often freely copy their releases in exchange for a blank tape and return postage, but there also existed many small 'tape labels'. There was great diversity amongst those labels, some were entirely bedroom based, utilizing new home copying technologies, whilst others were more organized, functioning in a similar way to established music companies. Some also did vinyl releases, or later developed into vinyl labels.

In the US, cassette culture activity extended through the late 1980s and into the 1990s. Although larger operations made use of commercial copying services, anybody who had access to a tape-to-tape cassette player could release a tape and publicize it in the network of fanzines and newsletters that served niche markets. Therefore cassette culture was an ideal and very democratic method for making available music that was never likely to have mainstream appeal. Many found in cassette culture sounds that were more imaginative, challenging, and groundbreaking than output released on major and even mid-level record labels.

The packaging of cassette releases, whilst sometimes amateurish, was also an aspect of the format in which a high degree of creativity and originality could be found. For the most part, packaging relied on traditional plastic shells with a photocopied insert (though some labels, no matter how small the operation, made more of an effort). In the late 1990s cassette culture began to decline with the advent of new technologies and methods of distribution such as CDRs and MP3s, though in recent years it has seen a small yet highly dedicated revival."

Tellus #13: Power Electronics Tape 1986


Maybe Mental, Merzbow, Amor Fati, If Bwana, Rhys Chatham, Psyclones, Blackhouse,
Joseph Nechvatal, Master/Slave Relationship, Architects Office, Controlled Bleeding,
Mojo, Coup De Grace, Le Syndicat, Mitch Corber, and F/i...


"Launched from the Lower East Side as a subscription-only bimonthly publication, the Tellus cassette series took full advantage of that then popular format to document and promote the New York scene's experimental composers of the time. It published 'audio art', exploring musical spheres as diverse
as post-industrial, no wave, neo-dada, noise, avant rock, radio plays, tango, electroacoustic,
musique concrete, and sound collage."

Negative Gain - "Back From The Dead" LP 1986 (FLAC)


"Negative Gain was founded in Toronto by Peter Warner, who wrote all of the lyrics and provided rehearsal space in his basement. Filling out the lineup was Grant C. Slavin on guitar, Steve Currie on bass, and Andrew Mosely on drums. All members were in their mid-teens at the time. Their influences included Minor Threat, Millions Of Dead Cops, Misfits, and Dead Kennedys, as well as local bands Direct Action and Sudden Impact. They got their first break in 1983, opening for Jodie Fosters Army at the legendary punk club The Turning Point (Pete and Grant went skateboarding with JFA after the show). The evening was documented in a subsequent issue of Thrasher. Other memorable gigs included opening for the Circle Jerks, Gang Green, Descendents, and 7 Seconds. The group went from listening to their favorite bands' records on a daily basis to hanging out with them backstage (and stealing their beer riders)! More help came when promoter Jill Heath sent their demo tape, 1985's Attack of the Killer Bears, to Pushead for review in MRR. Pushead liked the tape so much that he offered to release an LP. They recorded the album in five hours on a Saturday afternoon in Oakville, Ontario., with Brian Taylor of Youth Youth Youth as producer. Sadly, Pete Warner committed suicide not too long after the LP was completed, and never lived to see its release. The remaining members continued on as a three-piece for two more years before splitting up in the late 1980s." --Edited From Grant C. Slavin

Gore Beyond Necropsy - "Go Filth Go!" CD 1999 (FLAC)



My original review from 2000 (I'd traded for the CD from
one of the labels, who in turn got my live Repulsion LP, booted by 
the guy...Sergio...who put out the first live boot Crossed Out 10"
[not "Fuck Grindcore"])...

"I'm speechless, absolutely fucking speechless. I simply cannot and will not find fault in this CD (other than why didn't the band just release this as one massive 117 song album seeing as it was recorded at the same sessions as their Relapse CD). Gore Beyond Necropsy are the all-time gods of ultra sewage-goregrind (with the occasional half-assed but still serious social commentary). This pisses, shits and analdrills all over their split with Minch. Nothing was left out on this disasterpiece...the hokey 50's tunes as intros along with the John Waters samples, guitar tone that resembles Repulsion bass, 58 tracks in 26 minutes (!!!) of 2-second songs mixed with longer deathcore grinders, Every song played at hyper-killspeed, un-harmonized/effected vocals (singer Mamoru comes across like Lee Dorrian during F.E.T.O. with a bad sore throat), hilarious and genius song titles such as 'Puke, Piss and SHIT on Your Face', 'Reek Of Putridfashionpig' (one of my favorite songs) and 'Scenario Of Total Annihilation', and to top it all off they have a guy who just makes POWER-ELECTRONICS along with the songs! I swear you're a fucking poser if you don't get this CD! I do have one fear and that is that I'm afraid that there really is nowhere else the band can go within the grind genre. Over their 7+ year existence they have explored all of the traditional routes from drum-machine and Carcass-worship days to their refinement as the ultimate cheesy goregrindmassacrecore band. They really can't go any faster as the musick would just fall apart into Anal Cunt meanderings then, and for them to slow down...well, I prefer not to dwell on such terrible thoughts. PLEDGE YOUR PITIFUL SOULS TO GORE BEYOND NECROPSY!!! Whoopsy! Almost forgot to mention the great full color (I thought this release would be in black and white) layout complete with tasty front-cover collage of a putrid ball of cancerous, jaundiced and A.I.D.S.-infected chunks of SHIT squished together!!! HARSHIT RECORDS/837-6 HORINISHI. HADANO-CITY/KANAGAWA 259-1331/JAPAN"


Terminal Disaster - "Nuclear Suicide" Demo 1981


Airstrip 1 in '81! If the unknown ripper had told me this was a lost Napalm Death demo from the Bullshit Detector era, I'd swallow that lucid fairytale hook, line, sinker, the entire cooler of wormbait, the fucking fisherman, and his dingy too! No homo...I MEAN Y-E-S...YES homo......if it's Ellen Page nigga...